Eureka, Winnebago County, Wisconsin

Eureka, Wisconsin
Census-designated place
Looking southerly in downtown Eureka
Location of Eureka, Wisconsin
Coordinates: 44°00′16″N 88°50′30″W / 44.00444°N 88.84167°W / 44.00444; -88.84167
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
County	Winnebago
Area
• Total	1.071 sq mi (2.77 km2)
• Land	1.024 sq mi (2.65 km2)
• Water	0.047 sq mi (0.12 km2)
Elevation	743 ft (226 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	220
• Density	210/sq mi (79/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Zip Code	54934
Area code(s)	920
FIPS code	55-24475[1]
GNIS feature ID	2586486[2]

Eureka is an unincorporated census-designated place in the town of Rushford, in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the Fox River at the intersection of county highways K & E southwest of Omro.^[3] As of the 2010 census, its population was 220.^[4]

Demographics

As of the census^[5] of 2000, the population of Eureka, Wisconsin was 129 people, 71 male and 58 female with a median age of 31.9, 7% under 5 years, 73.6% 18 years and over, and 11.6% 65 years and over.

The racial makeup of Eureka, Wisconsin was 98.4% White, 0.8% Native American, and 0.8% some other race. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.6% of the population.

Average household size was 2.58. Average family size was 3.18. Total housing units was 57, 87.7% occupied. Of those occupied, 90% were owner-occupied, 10% renter occupied. Vacant housing units were 12.3%.

The population 25 years and older was 64, 85.9% a high school graduate or higher. Civilian veteran population was 10.3%. Disability status of the population 5 years and over was 25.8%. Married male, except separated, population 15 years and over was 56.1%. Married female, except separated, population 15 years and over was 70.3%.

The population, 16 and over, in the labor force was 75.6%. Mean travel time to work for workers 16 and over was 23 minutes. The median household income was $33.125, median family income was $47.500,and per capita income was $17,099. Families below the poverty level was 8.3%. Individuals below the poverty level were 12.8%.

Single-family owner-occupied homes was 35 with a median value of $77,100. The median of selected monthly owner costs with a mortgage was $721, not mortgaged was $250.

History

Eureka is situated on the south bank of the Fox River. Mr. Lester Rounds moved his stock of goods from Waukau to the site of Eureka in 1850, where he was joined by Mr. Walton C. Dickerson, who moved over from Nepeuskun, and they became the first settlers and founders of Eureka, a plot of which was recorded July 24, 1850, of which Rounds, Dickerson & Starr were proprietors. A ferry was established across the Fox River at this point, during the same season, and four years later a bridge constructed. The post office was authorized July 16, 1850, and Lester Rounds appointed postmaster. A steamboat landing and warehouse was built by Mr. Walton C. Dickerson for the accommodation of the daily line of steamboats on the river, running between Oshkosh and Berlin. The sawmills along the river at Eureka, Delhi, Omro and Berlin were supplied with pine logs from the Wolf River, which were towed up the Fox river at first by horsepower boats or tugs.^[6]

Culture

Eureka was the setting for the RKO Radio Pictures film: All Mine to Give.^[7]

People of Interest

Twenty-seven-year-old E. R. Jaeger, who hailed from Eureka, Wisconsin, followed his brother west to Tacoma, Washington, at the end of the 19th century, where he worked in his brother's laundry. In the fall of 1894, he decided to go out on his own. His destination was going to be either Alaska or Hawaii. He flipped a coin, and Alaska won. The Alaska Laundry Co. continues in the family in Juneau. Jaeger's coin flip left the field open for Servco Pacific, a diversified company founded in 1919, to become the oldest family business in Hawaii.^[8]

Argalus J. and Augustus I. Foote constructed the Foote Mansion in Eureka, Wisconsin. The mansion had 30 rooms. The floor plan was of 2 mirrored sets of 15 rooms with a great hall in the center.^[9] Local folklore claims the Foote Mansion is haunted and that Al Capone used the mansion as a whiskey distillery during prohibition.^[10]

Images

• 
  Welcome sign
• 
  Lift Bridge over Fox River
• 
  Eureka Lock and Lock Tender's House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places
• 
  Eunson Home Site on the Fox River
• 
  Eureka United Methodist Church (est. 1868)^[11]
• 
  Foote Mansion
• 
  The Old Post Office

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eureka, Winnebago County, Wisconsin.

Municipalities and communities of Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States
County seat: Oshkosh
Cities	Appleton‡ Menasha‡ Neenah Omro Oshkosh
Villages	Fox Crossing Winneconne
Towns	Algoma Black Wolf Clayton Neenah Nekimi Nepeuskun Omro Oshkosh Poygan Rushford Utica Vinland Winchester Winneconne Wolf River
CDPs	Butte des Morts Eureka Waukau Winchester
Unincorporated communities	Adella Beach Allenville Black Wolf Black Wolf Point Clarks Point Decorah Beach Elo Fairview Beach Fisk Fitzgerald Harbor Springs Highland Shore Indian Shores Island Park Larsen Lasleys Point Leonards Point Little Point Koro Medina Junction Melrose Park Metz‡ Mikesville Oakwood Orihula Paukotuk Piacenza Pickett Plummer Point Point Comfort Ricker Bay Reighmoor Ring Rivermoor Rush Lake Shangri La Point Snells Sunrise Bay Waverly Beach‡ Winnebago Zion Zittau
Ghost towns	Delhi Menasha (former town) Minden
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Coordinates: 44°00′16″N 88°50′30″W / 44.00444°N 88.84167°W / 44.00444; -88.84167